December Giveaway--Enter Here for Giveaway #2

I'm in a festive Holiday mood so let's do a Twofer Giveaway for December.

That's right, TWO Giveaways!
The first Giveaway is open ONLY to anyone who has never won Sluggy's Giveaway.
That winner will have a choice of one of two different prize boxes.
Then the second Giveaway will be open to everyone and that winner gets whichever Giveaway Box the first winner doesn't pick
Got it?
Good!

Here's the First Box of Goodies..............

Plus all this..........

4 x Wet n' Wild nail colors(French White Creme/Yo Soy/Mere Pacific/Metallica)
1 x Sally Hansen nail color(Frill Seeker)
1 x e.l.f. foundation(natural)
1 x Jergens Natural Glow(fair to medium)
1 x Daylogic make-up remover pads(waterproof)
1 x Hello toothpaste(fluoride-free)
1 x Revlon Colorburst lip balm #135
1 x CoverGirl lipstick #335(tantalize)
1 x Revlon nail files
3 x e.l.f. cosmetic brushes(concealer/eye shadow/brow comb and brush)
1 x CoverGirl mascara(black brown)
1 x Rimmel eyebrow pencil #004(black brown)
1 x CoverGirl brow pencil due #505(rich brown)
1 x Jesse's Girl eye liner(poison ivy)
1 x Jesse's Girl lip liner(naked)
1 x CoverGirl eye shadow palette #235(pure romance)
1 x CoverGirl eye shadow(mink)
2 x Wet n' Wild eye color(nutty)
1 x Wet n' Wild eye color(brulee)

As for the chocolates, I didn't count or arrange them for the photo.  I just threw handfuls into the box until it was filled.  Varieties include......
* M&m's(peanut)

* Hershey miniature bars
* Kit-Kats
* Reese's cups
* Reese's xmas bells
* Hershey golden
* Dove milk chocolate
* Dove dark chocolate/mint
* Dove dark chocolate sea salt
* Andes peppermint bark thins
* Butterfinger PB cups
* Trident gum

That's a whole lot of make-up and choccies!!


Close up shots of the goodies..........

And here is the second Box O' Goodies the winner could choose instead..........

1 x Jergens lotion
1 x Infusium conditioner
1 x Pantene classic clean shampoo
1 x Lady Speed Stick deodorant
1 x Vaseline aloe lotion
1 x Yardley English lavender soap
1 x Colgate toothpaste
1 x Conair hair brush
1 x Rite-Aid itchy eye relife drops
1 x Bic razor
1 x Glide dental floss
1 x Airwick plug-in fragrance
1 x Scunci hair bands
1 x Eucerin lotion
1 x Mentos mints(spearmint)
1 x Carmex lip balm
2 x Trident gum(mint/berry lime)

And the close-up shots of these goodies...........

* This post is to enter the Giveaway for all readers whether you've won a giveaway before or not.
Please go HERE to enter the #1 Giveaway for only non-winners.

There is a limit of ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PER DAY for this Giveaway.  Come back every day and enter though!

In order to enter you must comment with stuff like---which box you want to win, what is the thing you most want to win in that box, do you enjoy Christmas/Hanukkah/Solstice/"the name of your Holiday here" and what about it do you like, do you have a family tradition at Christmas/Hanukkah/Solstice/"the name of your Holiday here"....stuff like that.

I'll leave this giveaway open until Sunday, December 15th at 11:59 pm Eastern Savings Time. On December 16th, Monday, I'll draw the winning entry.

*Please note these rules*
I'll post the name/ID of the winner on this blog on  and that person has 48 hours from the time stamp on that post to contact me privately via email(my email addy is listed on my "About Me" page, as well as on my side bar).

If I am not contacted via email, I'll attempt to contact the winner via the email they supplied with their entry(or gave me to add to the Giveaway Data Base)and if that email is not responded to within another 48 hours I'll pick another winner.

Disclaimer--This giveaway is open to those with mailing addresses within the US only.  As the cost of postage to foreign countries has gotten too high I am sorry to say I can no longer afford to mail boxes outside the US.  These giveaways are not sponsored by any companies.  I pay for it all(the cost of items given away and the postage to mail it all)out of my own pocket.

***PLEASE NOTE***

Please make sure there is a way for me to contact you in your comment.

If you're not a registered Blogger User with your contact information on your User page, please put your email addy in your comment or email me your email addy privately when you leave a comment so I can get a hold of you. If your Blogger associated user profile is a GOOGLE one make sure your email info is linked to your profile.

If I can't contact you then you can't win.  I am still having to disqualify entries due to this issue and I sure don't like doing that.  Thanks!


So let's get this DECEMBER Giveaway #2 started.  Good Luck to all!!!

Sluggy

December Giveaway--Enter Here for Giveaway #1

I'm in a festive Holiday mood so let's do a Twofer Giveaway for December.

That's right, TWO Giveaways!
The first Giveaway is open ONLY to anyone who has never won one of Sluggy's Giveaway.
That winner will have a choice of one of two different prize boxes.
Then the second Giveaway will be open to everyone and that winner gets whichever Giveaway Box the first winner doesn't pick
Got it?
Good!

Here's the First Box of Goodies..............

Plus all this..........

4 x Wet n' Wild nail colors(French White Creme/Yo Soy/Mere Pacific/Metallica)
1 x Sally Hansen nail color(Frill Seeker)
1 x e.l.f. foundation(natural)
1 x Jergens Natural Glow lotion(fair to medium)
1 x Daylogic make-up remover pads(waterproof)
1 x Hello toothpaste(fluoride-free)
1 x Revlon Colorburst lip balm #135
1 x CoverGirl lipstick #335(tantalize)
1 x Revlon nail files
3 x e.l.f. cosmetic brushes(concealer/eye shadow/brow comb and brush)
1 x CoverGirl mascara(black brown)
1 x Rimmel eyebrow pencil #004(black brown)
1 x CoverGirl brow pencil due #505(rich brown)
1 x Jesse's Girl eye liner(poison ivy)
1 x Jesse's Girl lip liner(naked)
1 x CoverGirl eye shadow palette #235(pure romance)
1 x CoverGirl eye shadow(mink)
2 x Wet n' Wild eye color(nutty)
1 x Wet n' Wild eye color(brulee)

As for the chocolates, I didn't count or arrange them for the photo.  I just threw handfuls into the box until it was filled.  Varieties include......
* M&m's(peanut)
* Hershey miniature bars
* Kit-Kats
* Reese's cups
* Reese's xmas bells
* Hershey golden
* Dove milk chocolate
* Dove dark chocolate/mint
* Dove dark chocolate sea salt
* Andes peppermint bark thins
* Butterfinger PB cups
* Trident gum

That's a whole lot of make-up and choccies!!


Close up shots of the goodies..........

And here is the second Box O' Goodies the winner could choose instead..........

1 x Jergens lotion
1 x Infusium conditioner
1 x Pantene classic clean shampoo
1 x Lady Speed Stick deodorant
1 x Vaseline aloe lotion
1 x Yardley English lavender soap
1 x Colgate toothpaste
1 x Conair hair brush
1 x Rite-Aid itchy eye relife drops
1 x Bic razor
1 x Glide dental floss
1 x Airwick plug-in fragrance
1 x Scunci hair bands
1 x Eucerin lotion
1 x Mentos mints(spearmint)
1 x Carmex lip balm
2 x Trident gum(mint/berry lime)

And the close-up shots of these goodies...........

* This post is to enter the Giveaway if you have never won before.
Please go HERE to enter the #2 Giveaway open to everyone.

There is a limit of ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PER DAY for this Giveaway.  Come back every day and enter though!

In order to enter you must comment with stuff like---which box you want to win, what is the thing you most want to win in that box, do you enjoy Christmas/Hanukkah/Solstice/"the name of your Holiday here"? and what about it do you like, do you have a family tradition at Christmas/Hanukkah/Solstice/"the name of your Holiday here"....stuff like that.

I'll leave this giveaway open until Sunday, December 15th at 11:59 pm Eastern Savings Time. On December 16th, Monday, I'll draw the winning entry.

*Please note these rules*
I'll post the name/ID of the winner on this blog on  and that person has 48 hours from the time stamp on that post to contact me privately via email(my email addy is listed on my "About Me" page, as well as on my side bar).

If I am not contacted via email, I'll attempt to contact the winner via the email they supplied with their entry(or gave me to add to the Giveaway Data Base)and if that email is not responded to within another 48 hours I'll pick another winner.

Disclaimer--This giveaway is open to those with mailing addresses within the US only.  As the cost of postage to foreign countries has gotten too high I am sorry to say I can no longer afford to mail boxes outside the US.  These giveaways are not sponsored by any companies.  I pay for it all(the cost of items given away and the postage to mail it all)out of my own pocket.

***PLEASE NOTE***

Please make sure there is a way for me to contact you in your comment.

If you're not a registered Blogger User with your contact information on your User page, please put your email addy in your comment or email me your email addy privately when you leave a comment so I can get a hold of you. If your Blogger associated user profile is a GOOGLE one make sure your email info is linked to your profile.

If I can't contact you then you can't win.  I am still having to disqualify entries due to this issue and I sure don't like doing that.  Thanks!


So let's get this DECEMBER Giveaway #1 started.  Good Luck to all you newbies!!!

Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the December 6th Edition

Here's what qualified as frugal in my world this past week....................

*  I got the Weis(PMITA)Markets Freebie last Friday--

A large 24 oz. bottle of salad dressing.  I got this for Hubs as he loves Blue Cheese dressing and it's something I rarely buy.  Maybe I should put it in his Christmas stocking? lolz

*  I printed out a $5 Coupon that a local brewery sends me.  These get sent about every month.  I gave it to Hubs so he can get a growler fill there for $5 less than he usually pays.

*  I got lots of goodies at Rite-Aid last Friday and Saturday during the Black Friday sale........

This isn't counting Thursday's haul and it was all with no OOP.

*  I went out yesterday and hit some more Rite-Aids to do the Nexus/Shea Moisture Deal.
Here's what I found on Tuesday.....

 2 tubes of Body Butter.

And here's what I got on Thursday..........

2 bottles of Body Wash and 8 bars of Soap.
I spent $55.43 in Bonus Cash and earned $60 back in new Bonus Cash so it was all free!

* I found money!

2 pennies at the Burger King drive-thru last Friday.

A nickel at Weis in one of the center aisles last Friday.

A dime right in front of the register counter at Rite-Aid on Tuesday.

2 Dimes by my favorite self-checkout at Weis on Wednesday.  Who ever loads the change into the checkout machine there isn't very careful getting the coins into the hopper.  Generally the days I see empty coin rolls in the little trash can by the machine I can find a coin or two.  ;-)

This penny was found at Dollar Tree on Thursday in the checkout lane.  I needed some birthday cards and wedding wrap so that put me in the right spot to pick this beauty up.

Again on Thursday I was in the R-A downtown hunting free SheaMoisture stuff and spied this penny near an end cap display.

That makes a Grand Total this week of .39¢ free money!

Oh, I also found this(not money though)..........

A greeting card in the middle of the parking lot at Ocean State Job Lot.  Even though it was spitting snow the card hadn't been sitting there long and was in good shape still.  I picked it up and looked around to see if any was in the lot(either outside their car getting in or sitting in a car ready to leave)so I could ask if anyone dropped the card but there was no human activity in the parking lot.
I guess it got to go home with me as the owner was nowhere to be seen. ;-)

*  I sold something on eBay!

This rather pricey Fitz and Floyd Xmas themed picture frame was a gift to me many years ago from a friend from Canada who use to visit me so she could go shopping in the US.  Her mom and her had eBay business where they picked up stuff like this along with other brands from a wholesale distributor in Canada and sold them.  I haven't heard from this friend in many years also.

I've never taken this gift out of the box to use and found it sitting in a box of Xmas things so put it up for sale as it's discontinued by the manufacturer......and it sold!
Something else de-cluttered from my house and a little money in my pocket besides. 8-)

*  Hubs and I didn't eat out at all this past week.....well except for that small burger at BK, while I was running errands, which I paid for with a gift card. ;-)

*  I earned $25.65 in cash rebates on Ibotta this past week.
Mostly it was from things I bought at R-A during the Black Friday sales but there was $2.50 of it earned from Weis.

*  Speaking of Weis I bought these jars of pasta sauce last Friday there............

5 jars where on sale for .99¢ each if you bought at least 4 at a time.
There was a .50¢ rebate on Ibotta on this brand so each jar ended up costing me .49¢.  We don't care for this brand though so I'll either send these to the local Food Bank or put them into my brother in-law's basket of food I give him each Christmas. ;-)

*  I went to Ocean State Job Lot(to pick up a couple of Xmas presents)and found some foods on the "Eat For Free" table to buy...........

1 x bottle of Sunflower Oil
1 x bag of matcha mochi cookies
1 x box chamomile tea bags
1 x jar barbecue sauce
1 x jar curry sauce
2 x bottles of coconut water
2 x packets of curry sauce mix
2 x Slim-fast meal replacement drinks

$26.95 spent and $26.95 earned on a gift card.
I also cashed in some free gift card points.  I bought 2 packets of Chinese soup, $11.55 in dog treats for the puppies and $9.99 spent on a gift for Hubs for Xmas.  So what I spent on gift cards I didn't use it all on food items but I'm ok with that.
I still have $62.97 on my old gift card plus a new $26.95 gift card.

* I did do some Cyber Monday shopping.  I had a $10 reward for a clothing company that was expiring Dec. 6th and they had everything in their store 50% off on Monday so I bought a few shirts and will take the cost of it all out of my accumulated WAM.  I also needed new bras and found the best price on Kohl's so I combined that purchase with a couple of Xmas gifts and bought them all on Kohl's.  I used coupon codes and $50 in gift cards so ending up paying $5.56 in cash.  I earned $15 in Kohl's Cash so I used that on Wednesday to buy another Xmas gift, using coupon codes again and a free shipping offer which brought my OOP to just over $60.  I went through the ShopatHome portal so earned 4% back in rebates on all the Kohl's purchases(about $4 total).  $4 isn't much but every little bit helps! ;-)

Ok that's all I can think of from last week.

As always stay frugal and tell us the frugal wins you had last week! 8-)))



Sluggy

This Week's Shopping

After the epic shopping last week at Rite-Aid, this week has been fairly anti-climatic.

It snowed here for two days so I didn't out to Rite-Aid this week until Tuesday.  Even so, I still found 2 Shea Moisture items on clearance..........

2 x Body Butter clearance $5.49=$10.98+.66¢tax=$11.64 paid for with BC.
I earned back $10 BC(wyb 2 Nexxus or Shea Moisture)so I spent down the BC on my card by $1.64.
The Catalina machine spit out a $2 off wyspend $15 Q too.

So on Wednesday.....what a clusterf**k!
I go in and the manager says we didn't get a WW coupon packet.  The sometimes there Wellness Ambassador who is suppose to be in charge of this stuff was called and she was told by her higher up that R-A wasn't doing a WW this month, what with Christmas and a special 4 Day ad in additional to the weekly sales ad, etc.
So I showed the manager on my phone photos of the WWQs that supposedly don't exist and showed her comments on site where folks in other states had used them already today.
The manager shrugged her shoulders and said, sorry.  So I said Corporate(or at least the Ambassador's boss)is lying! but she wouldn't acknowledge that I was probably right.(They have been known to lie about stuff in the past. lol)
Then I asked where the 4-Day ads were as they weren't out.
She responded with, "What 4-Day ad?!?" lolz
So I showed her a copy on my phone and she pulled it up too.
Yet another fail.......my store's management never got sent this sales ad information.

So I found a few things to buy and had the cashier price check to make sure that even though there were no sales flyers that the deals still worked......and they did.
So I bought this on Hubs' card..........

2 x Planters on sale 4-Day ad=$6.00
I had a $1/2 Tearpad Q so paid $5.00 in BC.
This purchase earned me back $1 in BC(Planters/Tostitos Deal).

Then I used that $2 off $15 purchase CatQ I earned the day before on my card and bought this......

1 x Folgers coffee(4 day ad sale)=$5.99
2 x Nature Made Vitamin D BOGOFree=$18.49
2 x Kinder Bueno chocolate(4 day ad sale)=$2.00
SubTotal.........$26.48

Coupons Used
$2/$15 Catalina=$2.00
$4/1 Folgers R-A Q=$4.00
$1/1 Nature Made Peelie Q=$1.00
$2/2 Kinder Bueno L2CQ=$2.00
Coupon Total.......$9.00

$26.48-$9.00=$17.48 paid with BC
I submitted the Nature Made purchase to Ibotta and earned $4 cash rebate(2 x $2) so converted $4 BC to cash and spent down the rest of my BC by $13.48.

So be sure to load that chocolate Bueno Q onto your account for some free chocolate(a free stocking stuffer if you need it).

Later that afternoon I got a FB message from the Assistant Manager at R-A(we have become friends like that)telling me they now had the WWQs.
Wtf?!?! I said.
She didn't give me details but I'll get the story the next time I go in.
I just messaged her back that "I told you Corporate lies!"
She laughed and said, "Hey!  Don't shoot the messenger."
But there was no way I was going back at 4 pm for that.  There were no freebies with these WWQs anyway and I was done for the day.

After R-A I hit up Weis(PMITA)Markets.  I wanted to do the "Buy 6/Get $3 Back Instantly" Deal.
I also lucked into some dairy and meat discounts this trip.......

The Buy 6 Deal was the Birdseye frozen veggies, the Borden shredded cheese(I also had a Q for that)and the container of Cabot plain Greek yogurt.
I also picked up 2 packs(only 1 is pictured)of Ground Beef as it was $1.99 lb. which it hardly EVER is here anymore at ANY store!.
Then I found a huge package of breakfast sausages with a $3 instant discount sticker(making it $3.06)so it was $2 lb. and a thin London Broil marked BOGOFree(if you buy one it's half price then)with a $1 instant discount sticker on it as well, making it $3.74 for almost 1.5 lbs. of beef.
The Cabot vanilla yogurt quarts were reduced to $1 per container so I scooped those up too as this brand goes for $4.85 normally around here.  It will be breakfast for me for many days to come. ;-)

Of course one of the packages of ground beef scanned twice so I had to go to CS desk for a refund(what's new?lol).
And I found money by one of the self-checkouts too but that will get talked about tomorrow in the Frugal Friday post. 8-)

I am up to 167 Points at Weis(PMITA)Markets toward a free ham/turkey for Xmas.  I'll do another survey tomorrow for another 100 Points and yet another the following Friday which means I'll only have to spend another $33 to get to 400 Points for that freebie hunk of meat. ;-)

So that's the shopping this week so far.

What stores have you been too and what deals have y'all gotten this week?

Sluggy

Income & Spending Report 2019.....the November Edition

Now that we are living on an annuity and 401K$ withdrawals, I am still going to keep track of our monthly spending and income, and hopefully we'll still be able to live BELOW our means and I'll have some leftover monies each month to tuck aside.

Two changes we implemented for 2019 at our financial meeting in Jan.--

* Hubs wants to take $150 per person WAM(aka Walking Around Money)in 2019.  I found last year's $100 per month adequate but Hubs chafed at that little so we are upping it this year to $150 per person per month.
                                                                                                                                         
*As for our 2018 Slush Fund, this is how we are going to handle it in 2019......
We won't be taking a quarterly 401K withdrawal in 2019 until we "need" to, instead of taking one each quarter as we had planned back in 2017 when Hubs retired.  Why pull 401K monies out when they are earning more than our other regular bank funds?  Use those instead for now!

Since the Slush Fund ended 2018 with $23,164.17 in it and the Sinking Fund ended 2018 with $468.37 in it, we are, for now at least, not taking any more 401K withdrawals and using what is in the Sinking Fund and/or Slush Fund to cover all irregular bills that come up in 2019 plus a few projects around the house.

I have set up a page to track the Slush Fund.  Click on the tab marked "Slush Fund 2018-2019" at the top of the blog.

  I am trying to be as transparent as I can with how much is coming in and how much is going out.  8-)

On to the November report---

I had 2 goals for November.......
The 1st is to actually finish the month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to try to have a little cash leftover at the end of the previous month to tuck back into a slush fund.  This slush fun may be to apply toward unforeseen bills that are coming due in subsequent months, to spend on "extras/wants" during the year or to just sit there and grow until the end of 2019.

I can report that we finished up November in the black.
The amount we ended the month of November with?.....$1087.56

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in November---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1848.67
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $635.84
* Blogging Revenue of $133.73
Total "Income" for November.....$5916.91

Expenses in November---

* Healthcare Premium for November was $1,848.67(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Variable Expenses in November came to $2980.68
Total Expenses....$4829.95

$5916.91-$4829.35=$1087.56

Slush into November $17,496.43+ $1,087.56 addition=$18,583.99

Then the hot water heater died in November so we had to take $1076..00 out of the Slush Fund to pay for that.....
$18,583.99-$1076.00=$17,507.99 in the Slush Fund heading into December.

The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $11.56 for November.
That's how much overage in November we had after paying for the water heater, $11.56.
So basically November was a wash in terms of putting any money aside.  I am glad we didn't have to touch savings. ;-)

Outgo

As for the variable expenses this November,  here are the good and the bad side of things....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges and internet were approximately the same as last month.(Within $2 or so).
*  The water bill was $15.38 lower than in September.
*  The WAM was the same as in October.
*  The health insurance premium was the same as last month.
*  The Amazon and M/C bills were less than October's bills($41.64 and $79.99 less respectively)

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The electric bill was $74.83 higher than October.  It's that time of year folks. ;-)
*  The gas card bill was $23.88 higher than last month.
*  The water bill was $5.80 higher than in October.
*  The semi-annual car insurance was due to the tune of $717.28.**
*  There was a vet bill for Chester's neutering of $477.28

The Food Budget costs for November are in another post, which is located .  Food costs are included in the credit card payment(mainly but sometimes our WAM cash too).

**The Sinking Fund was emptied in November of it's $468.37 to put toward the car insurance.  Using that we only had to use $248.95 of income to cover this irregular bill. 8-)

FINAL THOUGHTS on November----

It was pretty uneventful financially.  Except for paying for a broken water heat, the car insurance premium(which we knew was happening)and paying for Chester's surgery things were monetarily boring which is how I like it. ;-)


THOUGHTS going forward into December 2019----

The only irregular bill due in December are the Long Term Care premiums.
There is Xmas spending on the credit card coming up in December(amazingly Xmas comes every year!!), the electric bill will continue to rise with Winter here.
There will be some medical bills coming due as well in December for appointments in November.

On the bright side I'll be using my "small economies" cash to cover the food bill this month.
If we can have bills and income balance about even and not have to pull cash from the Slush Fund in December I'll be a very happy camper.

So how was your November financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in November?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
What did you do with any money leftover at the end of the month?
Did you pay off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle or into savings, in an emergency fund or a retirement account?
Or did you blow it on a want?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check out your progress too and celebrate or commiserate with you!


Sluggy